The Girl from Nowhere

The next day was gloomy with overcast skies. The clans had agreed, and they had decided on ten warriors, one more than the last conclave, Lexa’s. People were coming from all over to watch the spectacle, possibly the last Natblida, fighting for the right to lead, take the mantle of commander. Hundreds were pouring into the makeshift stadium.

Andes was getting ready. Raven and Octavia were fussing over her. “You need to look badass, “ Raven said. “ Wait here.”

Octavia was putting war paint on Andes face, “You ok?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“Are you nervous?”

Andes thought about it, and she wasn’t, she had a preternatural calmness about her right now. “No, I’m not. I guess I should be, but I’m not.”

When Octavia was done she stepped back and looked at her handiwork. “You look great,” she said with a smile.

Raven was back with a razor. “Ok, you need to let me do this.”

“Where’d you get that?” O asked.

“I have ways.”

“What are you going to do?” Andes asked.

Raven turned on the razor, “I’m giving you a badass hair cut, trust me.”

She started shaving Andes head, cutting it close up the back, close up the sides. She left the top longer, just taking a little off of it.
Andes kept watching her hair drop in front of her, now she was nervous. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” She said to Raven.

When she finished, she turned off the razor and looked at Andes, “Now that is badass sexy.”

Octavia nodded her approval. “That is pretty badass sexy.” She reached out and rubbed Andes head, “Cool.”

Andes reached up and touched her hair, what was left of it.” “Shit, you really cut it.”

“Dude, you need to look tougher, harder. You gotta fight for your life out there, can’t be doing that with hair in your face, looking all gorgeous and pretty.”

Andes looked at O, who shook her head, “I think she’s still gorgeous.”

“Yeah well, I’m not a miracle worker,” Raven said.

Indra appeared now, “it’s time. “

Andes stood up and put her swords on her back, her daggers at her thighs, she opted for no armor. She knew she moved better without it. All three of them followed Indra down to the entrance of the ring.

Abby was waiting there, unshed tears in her eyes.“Andes, I’ll be waiting right here for you, ok?”

“Yes Abby, I’ll meet you right back here.” She reached up and briefly touched Abby’s face, “will you do me a favor, hold onto this for safe keeping,” and she took a piece of folded up paper from underneath her shirt and handed it to her. Abby nodded and took the paper.

Octavia was next, hugging her, “you’re gonna win, you know it and I know it.” Andes winked and nodded her agreement.

Next up was Raven, who pulled her close, “ I’m gonna kiss you right now, kiss you right on the mouth,” and she did, and Andes kissed her right back, and it wasn’t just a friendly kiss. Raven broke it off, “Dammit, that was good, I knew you’d be a good kisser, I love you, do this, good luck, kick some ass, and I’ll see you when it’s over.” Andes stepped away from them all, gave them a thumbs up, turned and entered the ring.

Raven and Octavia made their way into the stands to watch and support their friend. Abby couldn’t bear to watch, she stayed behind, praying to every god she could think of that Andes would survive this.

Raven and O found a seat near Kane. They watched as Andes slowly entered the ring, the crowd restless. Daniel stood up to address everyone in Trig. “We come here today, to this conclave, to possibly crown a new commander. This Natblida before us, called Andes, the gada kom no weron, (the girl from nowhere), the last known Natblida, will fight to the death for the honor of becoming our supreme leader. She will fight ten of our finest warriors. If she survives, she will take the flame, and will lead us in battle against the Azgeda army.” The crowd started cheering now, “Let this conclave begin.”

And with that, the first warrior entered the ring. Raven and O were cheering now for their friend. They watched the two below begin circling each other, both with swords drawn. The warrior had nothing to lose, so he attacked first, trying to catch her off guard. Andes moved aside easily. This would be a little more difficult than usual, since she didn’t want to kill him. She had to disarm him, maybe weaken him with small cuts. On his next attack, she parried easily, and took the flat part of her sword and banged in across his knee, making him grunt in pain. Now he was limping, but not bleeding. He reached for his axe, and threw it at Andes, but she anticipated it, and ducked away from it. He came at her again and she slid to the side and swiped a cut across his back, not too deep, but deep enough to hurt and bleed. He reached back and looked at the blood she had drawn. He was getting a little angry now, because he hadn’t even touched her yet. He decided to try and land a series of quick blows on her, so he swung wildly, kept coming at her, driving her backwards. But he still couldn’t breach her defenses. They kept battling, both looking for an opening. Andes kept cutting him, small ones, but he kept coming. Finally, she could tell he was tiring now, and she spotted a weakness in the way he held his sword, two of his fingers relaxed on the handle, if she could land a strong blow, she may be able to knock it out of his hand. She reached behind her and now had both of her swords in her hands. She saw him hesitate now, wondering what she was up to. She charged and hit the ground, rolling forward. He was caught totally off guard, as she popped up right in front of him, landing both swords on top of his at the same time, her momentum giving her extra strength, the blow causing him to drop his sword, which she kicked away and now held the point of her sword at his throat. “Swear fealty to me, and I will spare your life. Join me and stand by my side as we fight a common enemy.” He looked deep into her eyes, and decided that he would rather live this day, so he bent the knee and swore his life to her. The crowd started cheering now, for this Natblida who just beat a warrior much bigger than herself.

And so it went on and on, and when the last of the ten knelt before her, Andes was relieved, her stamina was just about gone. She held her sword high, acknowledging the cheering of the crowd, chanting her name now, they accepted her, she proved herself to them and they were ready to follow her anywhere.

Raven, Octavia and Abby were waiting for her when she left the ring, and she practically collapsed in their arms. She was grimy from sweat, dirt and blood, none of it hers though. She knew there was no time for rest, now the flame awaited her. Daniel and Kane brought Murphy with them, and they all went down to the sacred chamber. Raven had the box that held the flame. Murphy instructed Andes to lie on her stomach on the table, her head hanging off the front of it. Abby was right there with her, holding onto her hand, in case anything went wrong. Raven handed the box to Murphy, and he gently took the flame out, the tiny chip. He moved it into position at the base of Andes neck, but before he could utter the key phrase, the chip opened up, just like before, the probes came out, and the chip moved on its own to the base of Andes skull, burrowing into her skin. She screamed from the pain, as the probes lashed around her spinal column. Andes thought she was dying the pain was so bad. Abby started freaking out, “Andes, Andes, talk to me, are you ok? “ Andes eyes were wide open now, her mouth open, no sound coming out, and then suddenly she just collapsed, eyes shut, her head hanging limply off the table, her black blood dripping from her nose. Abby checked her vitals, her heart was still beating, thank god, but she was breathing heavily. They all looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. Slowly Andes eyes opened, and Abby got on her knees so she could look at her, look into her eyes. “Andes, can you hear me?” Andes gave her a slight nod, her eyes now swimming back into focus. She was still breathing heavy. “Andes, can you speak.”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“What are you feeling?” Abby asked holding Andes face now, dabbing at the blood coming from her nose.

“I feel everything.” Everyone in the room strained to hear her. “I feel love, I feel so much love.” Abby looked up to Marcus and Daniel. None of them understanding what this meant. “She loved her Abby, she loved her so much. I have to tell her how much she loved her.” Raven and Octavia just looked at each other.

“Lexa, are you talking about Lexa, Andes? “ Abby asked.

“Yes, she loved her, she loved Clarke.”

There was still a lot of confusion in the room, until Raven spoke up, “the chip was part of all the commanders consciousness, Lexa’s consciousness is probably the strongest, since she was most recent commander. It’s a computer, so it recalls the most recent activity. Clarke was with her when she died. Lexa’s love for Clarke was the last thing that was recorded.”

“I have to get up, help me up.” Octavia and Abby helped Andes sit up.

“Is the pain still there?” Abby asked.

“No, went away thank god.” She was rubbing her temples now.

Daniel and Kane came over to look at her, Daniel asking, “are you ready to take command Heda?” Heda, that word hadn’t been spoken in almost a year. “What would you like us to do?”

Andes brain felt like it was “turned on” if that was possible. Things seemed so clear, colors seemed brighter, and thoughts were flying through it, ideas. “Daniel, you and Indra go to the remaining clans, raise the army, we leave now to meet Azgeda, they’re getting closer every day.” Octavia and Bellamy followed Indra out.

“Andes, I don’t know if you’re in any kind of shape to go to war right now.” Abby said.

“Abby, Clarke’s in danger, they’re all in danger, they’ve killed one leader already.”

“How do you know that?” Abby asked.

“I don’t know I just do.” The flame was in her now. She could feel its power. She jumped down off the table, put her swords back on.

Raven came over to her again, “dude, I’m getting tired of saying goodbye.”

“I’ll be back, keep my seat warm at the computer, ok?” Raven nodded her head.

Abby looked at her, “I’m coming along. You’re gonna need a med tent for the casualties, and here,” she handed her the paper that Andes had given her before the fights, Clarke’s picture.

Andes tucked it back into her shirt, next to her heart. “We will need your help, Abby, thank you.”

They turned to leave the room, and Raven called out, “Hey, goddess, bring our girl back, ok?”

“I plan on it.” And as Andes left the room, she stopped short, standing along the corridor were the ten warriors that she just fought in the ring.

“Heda, it would be our honor to be your personal guard.”

Andes looked at all of them, felt their loyalty, saw it in their eyes. “It would be my honor to have you, mochof.”